Little Rock Closes Kansas Classic with Multiple Season Bests, Program Top Times

TOPEKA, Kan. – The Little Rock swimming team wrapped up both the three-day Kansas Classic invitational and the fall semester of competition this afternoon, finishing with 13 lifetime best times and 64 season best times, accounting for 83% of all swims throughout the meet. A handful of Trojans also added their name to or moved up within the Little Rock top times list, setting up the team for a strong second half of the year.

"This weekend was just a sample of what's to come from this group of student athletes," said head coach Amy Burgess. "Day three takes pure grit, and that is what we saw today. Everyone put in everything they had and deserved all the great swims this weekend."
 
200 Backstroke
Gillian Boggs continued her quest to collect personal bests, placing 14th overall and scoring points in the B final with a time of 2:04.45. She took off over eight seconds from her earlier season best and demolished her previous lifetime best by nearly two seconds. Boggs takes over the fourth-fastest time in program history with the swim.

Caitlin Romprey and Olivia Henderson placed one after the one while racing in the C final. Romprey's final time was 2:05.51 and Henderson notched a season-best 2:05.97 by cutting off almost six seconds.

Taylor Floyd and Fernanda Gamez got another swim at night in the D final after posting season-best times of 2:07.81 and 2:09.69 in prelims, respectively.
 
100 Freestyle 
Winning a swim-off to qualify the A final with a gutsy time of 50.75, Jaelle Carlson rounded out the heat at night in her third of four times racing the 100 today, the fourth being the concluding relay. The sophomore went three-for-three placing within the top 8 in her individual events this weekend, leading the team in A final appearances.

Lauren Gray made the B final, stopping the clock at 52.71 at night to earn 15th place after putting up a season-best time of 52.42 in the morning, while Chery Poulsen raced for Little Rock in the C final, touching the wall at 53.23.

Three Trojans competed in the D final: Lauren Pieniazkiewicz, Gabriella O'Neil, and Lucy Jahn. Pieniazkiewicz was just tenths away from a lifetime best, hitting the wall at 52.86 in finals. O'Neil  took home a season-best 53.26 from her prelims swim, while Jahn touched at 53.83 at night, her best time as a Trojan and also tenths away from a personal best.

200 Breaststroke
Karina Harr led Little Rock in the long breaststroke event, hitting a season-best 2:24.79 to place 15th overall. In the C final, Lexie Shelton and Duru Sibik also hit season-best times. Shelton cruised to a time of 2:25.58, cutting off another second from prelims, while Sibik stopped the clock at 2:28.01. The freshman cut off two seconds at night to post a new personal best.
 
200 Butterfly
Five 200 butterfliers brought home season-best times, with four of the five of those occuring in the afternoon session. Fer Moussier was just outside the top eight after prelims, but still managed to drop nearly a second from her morning swim at finals, finishing with a time of 2:07.44 and second place in her heat. Joining her in the B final, Avery Spencer touched the wall at 2:08.93 for 13th overall.

Four Trojans raced in the C final: Ashleigh Green, Devin Trammell, Brianna Ridings, and Maci McCullough. Green came in at 2:12.67, a six second drop from her seed time. Meanwhile, Trammell, Ridings and McCullough pushed each other to times of 2:17.26, 2:17.59, and 2:18.84.
 
1650 Freestyle
Spencer and Clare Sprinkle represented the Trojans in the longest race in the lineup. Spencer touched the wall at 18:09.72 for 17th place while Sprinkle was not far off, coming in at 18:17.66 to take 18th. It was their first time swimming the mile this season, and will serve as a benchmark for when they compete at conference in February.

400 Freestyle Relay
The A team of Poulsen, Pieniazkiewicz, Gray and Carlson turned in a time of 3:29.82, taking over four seconds off their seed time. Carlson anchored with a 51.43 in her fourth 100 free of the day to bring Little Rock home strong in a satisfying finish after a long weekend of racing.

Up Next
The Trojans will use the next two months to train and spend time celebrating the holidays. Little Rock will return to the Donaghey Aquatic Center for one final home meet on Friday, January 13 at 11 a.m., Senior Day for the Trojans.
 
Team Scores
1. Iowa State – 953
2. Kansas – 907
3. Indiana State – 799
4. Northern Iowa – 432
5. Little Rock – 264
 

For the latest information on Little Rock Swimming and Diving, make sure to check out LRTrojans.com. You can also find the team on social media at @LittleRockSwim on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

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